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A draft EU law to make the benchmarks used to price EU citizens’ mortgages, loans and bonds more trustworthy was backed by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The text (lead MEP Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, ALDE, NL) aims to clean up the benchmark-setting process, by curbing conflicts of interest like those that led to the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) rigging scandals of recent years. (Read more: Economic affairs MEPs target conflicts of interest in benchmark setting )

Draft EU rules to ensure that the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty is fully respected in member states were approved by the Civil Liberties Committee on Tuesday. MEPs inserted amendments to prevent statements by public authorities that might suggest a suspect is guilty before a final conviction, ensure that the burden of proof stays with the prosecution and guarantee the rights to remain silent, not to incriminate oneself and to be present at trial. (Read more: Fair trials: MEPs beef up draft EU law on presumption of innocence )

Dr Denis Mukwege, the 2014 Sakharov Prize laureate, described political problems in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and his difficulties in tackling the problem of sexual abuse of women and even small children, in a Human Rights Subcommittee debate on Thursday. MEPs discussed how the EU could best support Dr Mukwege’s work, and some called for legally-binding rules on trade in conflict minerals. (Read more: Democracy and values are problematic in DRC, says Denis Mukwege )

The 18 March terrorist attacks on the Tunis Bardo museum were clearly directed against Tunisia’s transition to democracy, as the “lone success story of the ‘Arab Spring’”, said MEPs in a debate with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday evening. All speakers insisted on the need to maintain or beef up EU support for Tunisia, so to in encourage it to pursue its democratic transition and not be intimidated by attempts to cause anarchy and chaos. (Read more: Terror attacks targeted Tunisia's democratic path: MEPs call for more EU support )